


Yet wherefore speak?

by Nary



Category: Benjamin January Mysteries - Barbara Hambly
Genre: Breasts, Established Relationship, F/M, Frottage, Hand Jobs, Kissing, M/M, Oral Sex, Polyamory, Quiet Sex, Threesome - F/M/M, Yuleporn, Yuletide Treat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-24
Updated: 2014-12-24
Packaged: 2018-03-03 07:23:37
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,925
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2842880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nary/pseuds/Nary
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ben, Rose, and Hannibal have to avoid waking the baby.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Yet wherefore speak?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Brigdh](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Brigdh/gifts).



The clock was chiming midnight on All Hallows' Eve as Ben and Hannibal made their way home from the festivities at the Deneuve house, where they'd been playing all evening. "I'll find a place to stay, amicus meus," Hannibal had said - he was temporarily between lodgings, but his silver tongue ensured that he rarely had any difficulty in securing a bed on any given night.

But Ben would have none of it. "Come home with me," he offered after they took their leave of the other musicians, waving farewell as they dispersed to their respective homes, or to further, less formal celebrations.

"Won't your lady wife and your dear son be sleeping? I'd hate to disturb their rest." In truth, Hannibal was always somewhat reluctant to spend the night at the January home, for fear that his reputation would besmirch theirs - particularly Rose, who still hoped to one day re-open her school.

Ben laughed. "My dear son considers sleeping more of an option than a requirement, and lately it's one he often exercises in the afternoon rather than at night like any reasonable person."

"Be careful," Hannibal cautioned him, "if he acquires a taste for late nights he may wind up as a musician." He patted the fiddle tucked carefully under his arm as a warning.

Feigning shock and horror, Ben put a hand to his chest. "Rose would be sorely disappointed -she's already hoping John will go to Oxford, or maybe Cambridge..."

Now it was Hannibal's turn to look aghast. "Don't wound me like that, even in jest!"

Ben laughed. For all that Hannibal had cast aside most of the trappings of his classical education and noble upbringing, aside from his inexhaustible store of poetic quotations, he was still loyal to his alma mater. "Rose won't object to you joining us," he told his friend, returning to the matter at hand. "If Baby John is awake, then she'll welcome the company. And if he's asleep..." Ben glanced around to be sure there was no one nearby, then put a hand on Hannibal's thin shoulder, drawing him closer than propriety would have dictated. "...then she'll welcome it doubly," he concluded with a sly smile, and gave him a swift kiss.

Hannibal looked up at him when they drew apart. "You make it hard to refuse such a generous offer. _By my troth, I’ll go with thee to the lane’s en_ _d -_ although I can't promise there won't be bawdy talk," he added, matching Ben's grin.

When they arrived at the January home, candlelight glowed in the bedroom window. Ben wasn't sure if Rose was awake tending to Baby John, or if she had lost track of time while reading, but either way, she was surely not asleep yet. " _So shines a good deed in a weary world,_ " Hannibal said cheerfully, as Ben led the way inside.

From upstairs, the unmistakable sounds of a fussy baby could be heard - not full-throated screams, but a milder complaint that Ben recognized as his son's objection to being left in his cradle to sleep. He and Hannibal made their way quietly to the bedroom, not wanting to startle him with any loud noises.

Rose was seated by the window, which was open to let in the cooler night air, rocking the baby in an effort to get him to doze, but apparently without success so far. She looked up when they entered the room, smiling wearily. Her soft brown hair hung in a loose braid, and her green eyes were unobscured by her usual spectacles, giving them a gentle, dreamy look.

"I hope it's all right that I brought Hannibal," Ben said under his breath, crossing the room to plant a kiss on the top of her head.

"Of course," Rose assured him. "He's especially welcome if he knows any tricks for getting stubborn babies to sleep."

Hannibal gave a slight start at that, and Ben wondered if he was thinking for a moment of his own son. He covered the momentarily-pained look on his face by quickly by drawing out his fiddle and playing a few experimental notes to see if it was still in tune. "Young Master John," he said, addressing the fussing child as he adjusted one of the tuning pegs, "it's past time you were asleep."

_O Mistress mine, where are you roaming?_

_O stay and hear! your true-love’s coming_

_That can sing both high and low;_

_Trip no further, pretty sweeting,_

_Journeys end in lovers’ meeting-_

_Every wise man’s son doth know._

By the time Hannibal reached the end of the fool's song, Baby John's eyes were shut, and he voiced no further objections when his mother placed him carefully into his cradle.

"I'm not sure that was a lullaby," Rose said quietly, straightening up and stretching muscles stiff from sitting and holding a baby for too long.

"Maybe not," Ben said, keeping his voice low as well to avoid undoing all of Hannibal's efforts, "but it definitely worked."

"Well, I certainly hope this particular journey ends in lovers meeting," Rose whispered with a smile for them both, taking her husband's hand. "But it'll have to be a very quiet meeting."

"I'm not certain if it's physically possible for Hannibal to be that quiet," Ben teased.

" _Yet wherefore speak?_ " Hannibal mused, putting his fiddle away once more. " _Why call upon a few weak words to say / What is already written in the heart?_ "

Rose extinguished the candle, leaving them in relative darkness. Their undressing of one another was relatively quiet, at least, although their subsequent arrangement in bed required some _sotto voce_ discussion. Ben eventually found himself in the middle, with Rose to his right and Hannibal to his left, on the grounds that as the largest and heaviest of the three, the bed was bound to sag towards him, and it would be preferable if none of them landed on the floor during their exertions.

He turned to Rose first, kissing her with a hunger that was eager to make up for lost time. She laid one hand on his cheek, while the other, bolder beneath the linens, sought out his cock and began to stroke him into readiness. With Hannibal already nudging up behind him, kissing his shoulders, his back, wrapping an arm around his waist to embrace him so that his hand could join Rose's, it didn't take long before Ben was stiff and aching for more.

With a few gestures, Hannibal indicated his intentions, and soon the sheets were pushed back to allow him a fuller range of options. Ben shivered as a breeze passed over his naked body, and again as Hannibal's lips closed around the head of his cock. He moaned softly and Rose stopped his mouth with her own. Her breasts, grown larger these days to provide nourishment for their child, pressed softly against his arm, and Ben reached to cup one, rubbing its swollen nub with his thumb so that she gave a tremulous sigh against his lips.

Hannibal's dark hair was falling loose from its queue, and long strands trailed tantalizingly across Ben's hips and thighs as he sucked him. He would have liked to clench a fist into that hair and tug it hard, but his hands were already otherwise occupied. With a touch, Hannibal urged him to spread his legs, granting him access to Ben's ass, although for now he confined himself to stroking around its rim with one spit-wet finger. Ben's heartbeat, already faster than usual, soon felt like a veritable stampede.    

The mattress creaked and rustled as Rose sat up and moved closer to Hannibal, who lifted his head from his task to see what she wanted. Ben could see them silhouetted in the moonlight from the window as they kissed, and the sight aroused him beyond measure - the two people he loved most embracing one another was something he would never tire of watching. They held some brief whispered conversation there at the foot of the bed, and then Hannibal straddled Ben's hips, pressing their erections together so that Rose could grasp both more easily. She encircled them with both hands, bending to kiss each in turn. To take both in her mouth at once would have been too much, but she made sure to give them both equal attention. Ben was wet from Hannibal's tongue, while Hannibal's slit was seeping a few drops of its own slick liquid, which made each touch of Rose's hands or lips, each subtle twitch of either man's muscles, into an exquisite torment.

Between Rose's efforts and the increasingly impatient grind of Hannibal's hips against his, Ben couldn't - didn't want to - hold out for long, but he also wished it could keep going forever. The frantic rasp of Hannibal's breath, the tightening grip of long, slender fingers on his thighs, told him his friend was in much the same predicament. Ben closed his eyes and let the demands of his flesh take control. The hot, sudden spurt of Hannibal's seed across his cock and up onto his stomach was enough to push him to the same release. He stifled his cry with an arm thrown over his mouth at the last second, and was able, at some remove, to be impressed that Hannibal had indeed stayed silent through the whole thing.

Rose reclined on the bed, waiting more or less patiently as the men cleaned themselves up with a brief trip to the washstand. Since she had been delivered of her son, she hadn't yet wanted to resume vaginal sex - partly to give her body time to recover, but also because she didn't want to risk conceiving another child so soon after her first. Ben and Hannibal fortunately knew plenty of ways to be creative in such matters - Hannibal had suggested some options even Ben hadn't considered, in fact.

Tonight they came to stretch out on either side of her, kissing and caressing her beautiful body. Hannibal nipped at the spot where her collarbone jutted out, sucking the flesh there until she gasped. It would leave a mark, Ben guessed, and enjoyed the thought of Rose concealing such telltale signs beneath her clothing the next day. When he slid his fingers between his wife's thighs, he grinned to find her already drenched.

Hannibal turned his attention next to suckling at Rose's breast, while Ben continued stroking her soft, wet folds, teasing open her inner lips. When Hannibal raised his head for a moment's breath, Ben took the opportunity to lean over and kiss him, tasting the faint sweetness of milk on his lips. Rose gave a little whimper of need, and they broke apart to continue their ministrations to her instead. Ben took great delight in stroking her clit just until she started to tense and writhe, and then moving off of it again, circling just around its edges to extend her pleasure a little while longer, leaving her panting and desperate for more.

At length, though, her desire was so great that it seemed cruel to torment her further. Hannibal's slender fingers slid easily alongside his own larger ones, dipping down inside her while he continued rubbing her clit. Rose gasped and shuddered only a few moments later, clutching both of them as close as she could. Her orgasm rolled easily into a second, and then a third, before she was finally spent.  Afterwards, when she'd caught her breath once more, she gave each of them a grateful kiss. "Thank you for that," she whispered. "And for managing to avoid waking the baby."

**Author's Note:**

> You can find me on Tumblr at [naryrising](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/naryrising) if you want to ask questions, make requests, or chat!


End file.
